Last night was a beautifully clear night, so I stayed up late and took some long-exposure photos. (My camera can take 30 second exposures, though I’m tempted to get an external trigger do I can take longer-term exposures. The long the time, the more light ends up in the photo.)
I especially like the photo to the east, where you can see the Lyra constellation (the star Vega was the brightest one looking in that direction), and the photo to the north where Cassiopeia could be seen.
If you follow me on Facebook, you’ll have likely noticed that I’ve bought a new DSLR camera recently. It’s a Canon Rebel T2i and I’m slowly getting the hang of using it.
It came with a 18-55mm image stabilizer lens, which does a decent job. My Dad also had several lenses for his old Pentax 35mm SLR. After getting a cheap ($6+shipping) adapter from Amazon, I am able to use them: a nice 55mm, f/2 prime lens and a 300mm telephoto lens.
The prime lens produces really nice shots, especially in low light conditions or when I want a shallow depth of field (i.e. the background out of focus). The telephoto lens zooms in quite well (see the moon shot, which has been cropped about 1/2 of its original size), though keeping everything from shaking is a challenge.
Here are some tests (click on the image for a larger version):
Chloe and her ball (18-55mm Canon lens)
Chloe, outside (55mm Pentax prime lens at f/2)
Sacred Heart Church, Watson (18-55mm Canon lens)
Light shining through a doorway at the Cathedral of the Holy Family (18-55mm Canon lens; 1 second exposure)
The moon (300mm telephoto lens; image cropped by about 1/2)
Edit: I almost forgot! I can do pretty nifty video with this. Below is a video shot with the Pentax prime lens, recorded in full 1080p at 24fps. Click on the “Settings” (gear) icon to view it in 720p or 1080p HD.
